According to the Commission, the EU must urgently invest in outdated and poorly interconnected energy infrastructure in order to meet their energy policy and climate objectives by 2020. To this end, national approval procedures for projects of European interest are to be streamlined and better coordinated. The Commission announces to submit guidelines or a legislative proposal on cost allocation to address major or cross-border projects through tariff or investment rules in 2011.

cepPolicyBrief

The intended optimisation of the coordination and strategic planning of cross-border infrastructure development in the EU is indispensable for the completion of the internal energy market and to keep the infrastructure apace with the politically pushed development of renewable energies. Swift approval procedures for energy infrastructure projects expedite the development of infrastructure and improve the energy supply in the internal market. However, the real challenge lies in ensuring the support of infrastructure projects by the affected local public for.